Candelaria v. People

2013 CO 47, 303 P.3d 1202, 2013 WL 3324068
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedJuly 1, 2013
DocketSupreme Court Case No. 10SC794
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 2013 CO 47 (Candelaria v. People) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Candelaria v. People, 2013 CO 47, 303 P.3d 1202, 2013 WL 3324068 (Colo. 2013).

Opinions

JUSTICE RICE

delivered the Opinion of the Court.

T 1 In this sexual assault case, we interpret the relationship criterion of the sexually violent predator ("SVP") statute, section 18-3-414.5(1)(a)(III), C.R.S. (2012), and hold that an offender need not specifically intend to establish or promote a relationship with the victim primarily for the purpose of sexual victimization to satisfy that provision. We accordingly overrule the court of appeals' decision in People v. Stead, 66 P.3d 117, 122 (Colo.App.2002), to the extent that it conflicts with this opinion.

12 In addition, after applying our interpretation of the relationship criterion to the record in this case, we hold that the trial court made the appropriate specific findings and correctly designated Petitioner Rudolph Matthew Candelaria as an SVP. We therefore affirm the judgment of the court of appeals.

I. Facts and Procedural History

T3 Candelaria met his vietim, ML, while in line at a store in Durango, Colorado. A few days later, Candelaria and ML went out for dinner and drinks. At the end of the evening, Candelaria offered to give ML a ride to her car, ML accepted the offer, but instead of driving ML to her car, Candelaria drove ML to a secluded location and sexually assaulted her. ML immediately reported the incident to the police. The state charged Candelaria with one count of first-degree sexual assault, a class three felony.

14 A jury convicted Candelaria of sexual assault after a three-day trial. The trial court sentenced Candelaria to an indeterminate prison term of eight years to life, and designated him as an SVP. Candelaria appealed his conviction, sentence, and SVP designation to the court of appeals. The court of appeals affirmed the sexual assault convietion, but held that the trial court erred when it designated Candelaria as an SVP without making the factual findings required by the SVP statute. People v. Candelaria, No. O6CA1585, slip op. at 23-24, 2008 WL 3126311 (Colo.App. Aug. 7, 2008) (not selected for official publication). The court of appeals remanded the case to the trial court with instructions to make the factual findings regarding whether to designate Candelaria as an SVP. Id. at 23.

T 5 Upon remand, the trial court conducted a hearing to determine Candelaria's SVP status. During the hearing, the trial court made specific factual findings supporting its SVP designation. Referring to trial testimony, a presentence investigation report, the [1204]*1204Sex Offender Management Board ("SOMB") evaluator's seored risk assessment sereening instrument, and Candelaria's admissions, the trial court found that Candelaria established and promoted his relationship with ML primarily for the purpose of sexual victimization.

T6 Candelaria appealed this second SVP designation to the court of appeals, which affirmed. People v. Candelaria, No. 09CA1350, slip op. at 5, 2010 WL 3911447 (Colo.App. Oct. 7, 2010) (not selected for official publication). The court of appeals, citing Stead, 66 P.3d at 122, held that the trial court's findings were "sufficient to satisfy the requirement that [Candelaria] formed the relationship [with ML] with the 'specific intent' to sexually assault [her]." Id. at 4-5. T7 Candelaria petitioned this Court for certiorari review of the court of appeals' opinion. We granted certiorari to determine "Iwlhether the trial court erroneously reached its SVP finding without making the scienter finding that is specifically required" by Stead.

II. Analysis

T8 We review the plain language of the relationship criterion of the SVP statute to determine if it requires an offender to have specifically intended to establish or promote his relationship with the victim for the purpose of sexual victimization, as the court of appeals held it did in Stead, 66 P.3d at 122. After determining that section 18-3-414.5(1)(a)(III) contains no such specific intent requirement, we analyze the trial court's findings underlying its SVP designation in this case and conclude that the court of appeals correctly affirmed the trial court's SVP designation. We turn first to the relationship criterion of the SVP statute.

A. Section 18-3-414.5(1)(a)(IID)

19 The trial court ultimately determines whether an offender satisfies the four criteria of section 18-8-414.5(1)(a) and therefore qualifies for SVP designation. Allen v. People, 2013 CO 44, ¶ 12, 307 P.3d 1102, 2013 WL 3323904 (released concurrently). In making this ultimate determination, the trial court relies on both the statute itself, and on the appellate courts' interpretations of the language employed by the General Assembly.1 See People v. Terry, 791 P.2d 374, 376 (Colo.1990) (defining one role of appellate courts by describing the principles guiding statutory interpretation).

110 In this case, we interpret the relationship criterion of the four-part SVP statute to determine whether the court of appeals properly affirmed the trial court's decision to designate Candelaria as an SVP. We review questions of law involving statutory interpretation de novo. Grant v. People, 48 P.3d 543, 546 (Colo.2002). And, "[wle defer to the trial court's findings of fact if supported by the record." People v. Hankins, 201 P.3d 1215, 1218 (Colo.2009) (citation omitted).

1 11 To satisfy the relationship criterion of the SVP statute, the trial court must find that the offender's "victim was a stranger to the offender or a person with whom the offender established or promoted a relationship primarily for the purpose of sexual vie-timization." § 18-8-414.5(1)(a)(IIl). For the purposes of this case, we need only interpret the phrase "person with whom the offender established or promoted a relationship primarily for the purpose of sexual victimization" because the parties do not assert that Candelaria was a stranger to ML. Specifically, we must determine whether the applicable portion of the relationship criterion of the SVP statute requires the trial court to make a specific intent finding as the court of appeals held in Stead, 66 P.3d at 122.

$12 "Our primary task in construing a statute is to give effect to the intent of the General Assembly." Grant, 48 P.3d at 546 (quotation omitted). To discern the General Assembly's intent, we look first to the plain language of the relevant portion of the SVP statute, id. and give that plain language "its commonly accepted and understood meaning," Smith v. Exec. Custom Homes, [1205]*1205Inc., 230 1186, 1189 (Colo.2010). "Where the statutory language is clear and unambiguous, we do not resort to legislative history or further rules of statutory construction." Id.

T 13 In Stead, the court of appeals looked "to the face of the statute" to conclude, without analysis, that the relationship criterion requires the trial court to make a "seienter" finding to demonstrate that an offender satisfies the relationship criterion of the SVP statute. 66 P.8d at 121-22. More specifically, the court of appeals held that this "scien-ter" requirement obligates the trial court to find that an offender "had a specific intent in forming the relationship" with the victim for the purposes of sexual victimization. Id. at 122.2

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2013 CO 47, 303 P.3d 1202, 2013 WL 3324068, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/candelaria-v-people-colo-2013.